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Fresh

The Tomatometer is 60% or higher.

Rotten

The Tomatometer is 59% or lower.

Certified Fresh

Movies and TV shows are Certified Fresh with a steady Tomatometer of 75% or higher after a set amount of reviews (80 for wide-release movies, 40 for limited-release movies, 20 for TV shows), including 5 reviews from Top Critics.

Several people have watched this movie and commented that they feel it is unsettling (and perhaps a bit divisive) that no clear reason is given in the flashbacks of Kevin's upbringing for his actions at the end. Kevin claims not to know why he did what he did at the end of the movie. Yet, the quote from the film, which "Tomatoes" published below sums it up perfectly for me:

"Kevin: It's like this: you wake and watch TV, get in your car and listen to the radio you go to your little jobs or little school, but you don't hear about that on the 6 o'clock news, why? 'Cause nothing is really happening, and you go home and watch some more TV and maybe it's a fun night and you go out and watch a movie. I mean it's got so bad that half the people on TV, inside the TV, they're watching TV. What are these people watching, people like me? "

Oddly, I watched "Kevin" immediately after watching an episode of the science/psychology show "Brain Games". The episode had to do with lying: Why we lie and when we start lying. It turns out that infants will cry and fuss as if they need something when actually all they crave is attention. Hence, they are lying.

What we see in Kevin is an obsessive need of attention from the time he is an infant on. He doesn't want to watch TV he wants to be the person who is watched.

Yes, this movie is a terrible downer--does not leave you "humming the songs" afterward. I question whether Kevin's mother would be so universally hated for what happened. She is a victim too. I feel that the hate toward her is overplayed.

Still, the acting is great(!) and the writing and editing are purposeful and tight. It takes a little to get used to the cuts between "now" and "flashbacks". This helps to give insight into the Mother's state of mind.

This movie is haunting. If you like a film that leaves you thinking, not just about the film but about real-life events and people, then I recommend that you watch it.

This movie is disturbing. It made me feel creeped out and angry almost the whole way through, and all though it took some time to get going, when it did, it was quite good. The three boys that played Kevin throughout the years were masterfully cast. And Tilda Swinton was phenomenal. Definitely not an easy film to watch.

The sign were all there. This kid is crazy, weird, and a psycho. John C Reilly needs to open his eyes. As clear as that all is, it's even more clear how great performances by Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller make this movie a hit. Would've gone to the theatres for this one.

Expertly shot, and incredibly well acted, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a masterful film that with a career defining performance not only by Swinton, but Miller as well. The entire film feels unnerving and like something could snap at any second and the main characters would be in very stressful situations, but it doesn't actually do that until the end, and the payoff is great. All the actors who portrayed Kevin were excellent, but Miller stands out the most of course, with a performance that is both entertaining and haunting. Swinton is what everybody is here to watch though, as she pulls off a great realization of how stressful the situation must be while not doing anything that would make you think that she is over the top, not even for a second. The ending is very well done too, the final lines of dialogue will stick with me for a long time, as well as performances behind them